"Welcome back Sawyer, good work out there."
A tall dark haired soldier accompanies the familiar face of Sawyer through the facility. His uniform was similar to Sawyers, but more bulky, basic black gear with the baggy pants and protection vest, along with all his utility gear and ammunition strapped on his person.
They walked through the facility's first floor, passing by various rooms. Facility:Null on the surface appeared to be just another military base: offices, equipment rooms and communications stations. Masquerading as something ordinary, it concealed a secret underneath.
Every anomaly contained was in the floors underground, leaving an ever-looming feeling to those who stayed on the ground floor, knowing that nightmarish entities were confined right under their feet, and one mistake could allow them to breach the facility.
As Sawyer and the other man walked down the hallway, guards and other such workers looked over at Sawyer, he had become quite the spectacle at the facility.
"Sawyer!"
A woman in her early 30s wearing a black cardigan and light gray suit approached the two men. She had slightly short black hair and emerald green eyes, and a familiar voice.
It was the woman on the other side of the radio while Sawyer was at the cabin site, Dawn Hill, a communications manager at the facility.
"Good to see you back, Campbell wants to talk to you."
The three of them reach an office where an older ginger man wearing glasses and a suit greets them. He's accompanied by a masked man, presumably his bodyguard.
"Sawyer, walk with me, would you?"
Adjusting his glasses, Campbell leads Sawyer to an elevator which goes down to "Layer 2". The first underground floor.
They exit the elevator, Sawyer and Campbell walking ahead talking with each other as the other three linger behind them.
Layer 2 is much different from the surface floor, dark confinement prisons for anomalies with metal doors spread across the sides of the hallway, researchers scattered around and conversing with one another, only glancing up from their clipboards to acknowledge the Director being down here.
The tall soldier speaks up.
"I've not been down here in a while, but it still gives off that creepy as shit feeling."
Him, Dawn, and the masked bodyguard follow a few steps back behind Sawyer and Campbell - giving them space to talk privately.
"There's something I'd like you to see, it's certainly different from our average anomaly case."
"I'm not too keen on surprises, Director."
Sawyer replies, almost sarcastically while still keeping his dull tone of voice.
"I have my reasons. I want to see how you'll react."
They enter a room with a computer and several monitor screens. A researcher overseeing the room hurries over to Campbell.
"How's the subject?" Campbell asks the researcher while he makes his way over to the monitor screens.
The researcher replies. "He's not tried to leave, he's not said a word and not touched the food and water we've given him.
The overseeing researcher, a short south-Asian woman in a lab coat scurries around the room looking for something.
Sawyer takes a few steps towards the monitors, observing the subject that's captured in the adjacent holding room with slight interest.
"Here, just be careful please. If anything happens I won't hesitate to-"
Campbell interrupts the female researcher and walks past here.
"We'll be alright, thank you for your patience."
The others come into the room shortly after, with Dawn looking at what the monitor is displaying in awe.
"Whats a guy doing in the holding cell?"
What the monitors displayed was a young man wearing a white tank top and bleach beanie, he was glancing up at the camera, unmoving in his chair and his expression indifferent.
As Campbell prepares to enter the cell, he turns around to them. "Dawn, Erik, I'd like you to wait out here. My men are waiting outside in case something goes south."
"Sure…" Dawn replies, still confused about the situation. She watched Campbell and Sawyer enter the cell, and once the door closes she turns her attention to the monitors.
As the two men enter the room, the inmates eyes gravitate towards them, not bothering to hide the hostility in his gaze. The young man had no restraints to keep him tied down, yet stayed seated as the two entered his confinement room.
"Hello Richard. My name is Vincent Campbell. I must apologise for the delay, I had hoped to talk to you sooner. You see, I'm the Director of this facility, and the man next to me is Sawyer Ambrose - my most capable soldier. I must admit, keeping a human being in here puts a bad taste in my mouth, but nonetheless it's part of the facility's responsibility."
Richard simply raises an eyebrow at him.
"Huh?"
Campbell takes a few steps towards him, attempting to appear non threatening.
"We were hoping you could cooperate with us."
"Cooperate with you? Your guys snatched me off the street and dragged me here."
"What we did was to keep you safe, you said it yourself. You're in danger."
Richard looks around him before shaking his head.
"No. It wasn't real."
"Oh, it is real. At least what you talked about, in precise detail may I add."
Richard scoffs. "You're not making any sense, man."
"We brought you here because the hallucinations you described matched the description of specific anomalies that are locked up in this place. They're called "Crytids", and as a regular citizen you had no way to have that kind of information. Therefore you were taken into custody and treated as an anomaly yourself."
"The fuck is a cryptid? Why're you assuming I know about this stuff from my schizo ramblings? Hey! I want answers, don't walk away!"
Sawyer and Campbell leave the cell, returning to the monitoring room.
"So what's going on, why's the guy here?" Erik asks Campbell.
"Simply put, he's been affected by a mental anomaly. One of our connections in the police force picked Richard up on the street, he was sitting there half asleep. At first glance he would have looked like something having a panic attack due to schizophrenia. He was seen on CCTV camera in a store shouting at somebody who wasn't there, then running off distressed. However, when he had been picked up by the police he began describing specific anomalies that we had only recently encountered. He had no way of knowing this information, and any normal person who'd heard him would have assumed he was mentally unwell."
Dawn nods and chimes in. "It's a unique case, I don't envy him. What's your plan with him then?"
"We can't let him leave. The mental anomaly also affected his physicality, reflexively heightening his senses and muscle density. Along with the fact that he frequently hallucinates, letting him go would be a public hazard."
Sawyer folds his arms and looks back at the monitor. "Right, but leaving him like this seems inhumane."
Campbell doesn't pay much attention to Sawyer's comment, and in turns reveals his plan for Richard.
"After your recent success in containing the anomaly known as 'The Van Meter Visitor', I'd like to promote you to Captain of the new experimental unit 24."
Dawn glances over at Sawyer.
"Woah, your very own unit. Congrats, well deserved."
"Experimental unit?"
"Yes Sawyer, experimental. Unit 24 will be a group of people that wouldn't fit in another unit, for example anyone affected by an anomaly - like Richard. You're the only person that I trust to supervise this, I know that if anything went south you'd be the one capable to handle it."
"How are you sure he'll agree to this?"
"I just am."
The director starts to head out of the room, turning back to Dawn.
"Dawn, will you contact the new recruits? Make sure they're on the way."
"I'm on it."
The five of them leave the monitoring room, walking through the halls back to the entrance area.
"Along with Richard and Eric, two highly skilled transfers from the military will be joining unit 25."
A few minutes later, two men enter the facility and head towards where Campbell and the others are waiting.
"Ah, just in time."